8-i Dr Buchanan White on a [sess. li. 



about half an inch higli, below which the stem is clothed 

 with decaying leaves. Apex of the stem forming a barren 

 rosette, surrounded by very short lateral branches. Leaves 

 so closely imbricated that the internodes are invisible, about 

 one quarter of an inch long, rather fleshy, rigid, widely and 

 shallowly channelled above; midrib rather prominent below, 

 tip with a short mucro, strongly and regularly recvirved, dark 

 shining green. Peduncle one-flowered, and with the flower 

 about as long as the leaves, narrowed upwards, quite glab- 

 rous, ilower erect, or nearly so. Flowers pentamerous or 

 tetramerous. Sepals rather unequal, widely ovate, blunt, 

 concave on the inner side, never spreadmg, scarcely veined, 

 of a paler green than the leaves, margin very narrowly paler 

 and submembranous. Petals none. Stamens opposite the 

 sepals, longer than and incurved over the ovary; anthers 

 oval, the cells a little divergent at the apex. Ovary globose, 

 flattened at the apex, which is covered by a cluster of about 

 11 or 12 semigiobular shining pale yellow papillae, round 

 which cluster is a slightly thickened rim (with 5 or 4 points 

 and 5 or 4 angles) to the flattened apex of the ovary. Styles 

 5 or 4, situated within the points of the thickened rim, their 

 bases separated by the cluster of papilhe, very short, flattened; 

 all the upper surface stigmatic, j)rojecting horizontally. 

 Capsule globose, shorter and covered by the sepals ; valves 5 

 or 4, opposite to the sepals, valves entire at the tip. When 

 the capsule opens the flattened top falls away. Seeds few, 

 minute, daik brown, formed like others of the genus, and 

 covered with flattened tubei'cles. 



The duration of the period of flowering 1 do not know. 

 My plants had flowers in August and September. Even 

 when oidy in leaf the pkint cannot well be confounded with 

 any other native species, though, I am assured, specimens of 

 it have Ijeen called Cherleria. These must surely have been 

 in a dried state, since living examples are extremely unlike that 

 species. Mr Boyd tells me that the plant has not altered in 

 the letust under cultivation; but it must be mentioned that he 

 has not raised it from seed, Init increased liis stock by division. 

 So far also as he lias ol)serv(!d, the ilowers have always been 

 similar- to those descrilxMJ. If the structure of the ovary 

 is invariably such as I have described — and in all the flowers 

 1 was able to examine it was the same — it is uidike that of 



